Colorado’s largest teacher union is planning several events in October to rally support for the proposed statewide tax increase for schools as well as local school funding measures that will appear on ballots this fall.

The first “Day of Action” is scheduled for Friday, with teachers and community members from all over Colorado taking to local main streets and picketing for up to two hours for better school funding, Baca-Oehlert said.

“We’re getting people from Denver to Colorado Springs, Craig to Salida, to come out to wave signs, get people honking and to get out that funding message,” she said. The picketing is scheduled to go from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday.

Teachers and others will also walk through Colorado neighborhoods on Oct. 13 and Oct. 20 to boost support for education initiatives while posting supportive photos on social media Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Baca-Oehlert said.

Organizers hope to emulate the same enthusiasm that fueled April’s two-day school walkout by teachers that drew 17,000 educators, students and supporters to the state Capitol to demand more funding for schools. Baca-Oehlert said she believes those sentiments have not waned.

“In April we marched to the Capitol and then in November we will march to the ballot box,” she said. “We will support candidates that support education and we will support efforts like Amendment 73 that will help schools.”

Supporters say Amendment 73, which would be a $1.6 billion tax increase, is needed in Colorado, where education funding is below the national average and teachers are drastically underpaid.

If passed, the initiative would increase base funding for all students, provide for full-day kindergarten and boost the amount of revenue going to early childhood education, expand the definition of “at-risk” students to include both free and reduced lunches and increase the amount of funds passing from the state to local districts for English Language Learners, special education and gifted and talented students.

Several school districts have said they would use Amendment 73 funding to also boost teacher pay.

Amendment 73 would raise personal income taxes for residents making more than $150,000 per year and also raise the corporate income tax and make adjustments to property taxes.

A growing list of critics say Amendment 73 is vague in describing how the increased funding is to be used and would increase the tax burden on local businesses. Groups like the CEA are also using picketing and social media pushes to appeal to “us versus them” emotions, said Luke Ragland, president of ReadyCO, a conservative group that examines school funding issues.

“They are using hashtags that say things like ‘schools not corporations’ and others that exacerbate the divisions in our society,” Ragland said. “It’s being sold as ‘left versus right’ or ‘liberal versus conservative’ and that’s not what we need right now.”

Today, one out of every three men imprisoned in Colorado -- and four out of every five women inmates -- say they have some type of moderate to critical mental health need, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections. The number of inmates with mental health needs in Colorado's prisons has steadily risen in the past two decades.

Maybe you've got plans to camp this weekend (just watch out for the mud and, er, snow up there), go for a hike or maybe you just want to lounge by the pool and kick it. Unfortunately, Mother Nature doesn't always necessarily cooperate.